Glass sheets are often conveyed along conveyor lines in manufacturing facilities. In some applications, it is desirable to organize a plurality of glass sheets into a batch arrangement on a conveyor line. This has traditionally been done manually, e.g., by workers physically picking-up different sets of glass sheets and placing them on the conveyor line in different batch arrangements.
One such application involves organizing glass sheets into batch arrangements on a conveyor that delivers the glass sheets to a tempering furnace. In many cases, it is advantageous to organize glass sheets of different size, shape, or both into a single batch. This is common, for example, in made-to-order (“MTO”) production. In MTO production, it may be desirable to process the glass sheets in a particular order. When glass sheets of different size and/or shape are arranged together into a batch on a conveyor, it can be advantageous to position them in an arrangement that fills a large percentage of the available conveyor area. This can be desirable for increasing throughput and efficiency. Since the sizes and shapes of glass sheets tempered in a single batch can vary extensively, there are many different arrangements into which different sets of glass sheets can be organized. The arrangement process can, in fact, be like a geometric puzzle game.
The same is true of other processing operations that involve organizing different sets of glass sheets into different batch arrangements on a conveyor.
It would be desirable to provide equipment and methods for organizing a plurality of glass sheets into a batch arrangement on a conveyor.